User blog:Ceauntay/'Scooby-Doo! The Movie' Stayed On Top at Weekend Box Office
UPDATED: "Hanna" and "Soul Surfer" overperform domestically. The still biggest opening overseas of 2011 and U.S. of 2011 goes to the Warner Bros. animated film Scooby-Doo! The Movie which stayed at No. 1 at the international and U.S. box office for the second week in a role. The animated pic continues to make money around the world as it brought in a yet another $75 million, for a total of $101 million internationally, which made it the first film of 2011 that can pass the $100 million mark. The film also did the same in the U.S. as it made another $32 million this weekend, for a total of $114.1 million from 3,419 locations. This gives a worldwide total to $215 million, which made it the highest-grossing film of 2011. Universial's Hop stayed at No. 2 grossing an estimated $21.7 million from 3,616 locations for a solid domestic cume of $68.2 million. 20th Century Fox's Rio debuts in second place with $55 million, and should be opening well in the U.S. if it can compete against horror film Scream 4, as both of them opens in theaters Friday April 15. Warner Bros.’ Arthur -- a remake of the 1981 Dudley Moore classic -- grossed only $12.2 million from 3,276 theaters, even less than the $12.6 million estimated on Sunday, which had put Arthur slightly ahead of Hanna. If there's a saving grace, it's that the comedy cost a reasonable $40 million to produce. Arthur, also starring Helen Mirren, Jennifer Garner and Greta Gerwig, was likely hurt by poor reviews, although it earned a solid B CinemaScore. Nearly 65% of the audience was over the age of 25, while 56% were female. Warner president of distribution Dan Fellman said moviegoers under the age of 18 gave the film an A-. He said the studio will tweak its marketing campaign to target younger consumers. Focus' smart action-thriller Hanna overperformed in grossing $12.4 million from 2,535 theaters to come in No. 2 by the time final numbers were reported Monday morning. Directed by Joe Wright in his third film for Focus, Hanna stars Saoirse Ronan, Cate Blanchett and Eric Bana. Hanna cost less than $40 million to produce, with much of the production budget financed through foreign presales (Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions picked up rights to a number of major territories). “To come in No. 3 was a triumph,” Focus president of distribution Jack Foley said. "Joe Wright is now a serious genre filmmaker.” Hanna played well from cities to small towns, and drew an ethnically diverse audience. It skewed slightly male (53%), while the majority of the audience was over 25. However, Hanna drew a C+ CinemaScore (Rango also did, and it hasn’t hurt that film). In a second win for Peter Schlessel and Bob Berney’s new FilmDistrict, Bethany Hamilton biopic Soul Surfer also did better than expected, grossing an estimated $11.1 million from 2,214 locations to come in No. 4, thanks to teen girls and their moms, as well as faith-based audiences. Soul Surfer, distributed by Sony’s TriStar and marketed by FilmDistrict, drew a rare A+ CinemaScore. In another good sign, 56% of the audience was under the age of 25 -- a demo that’s been missing from the multiplex -- while 80% of those buying tickets were female. “There’s a lot of love for this film,” Sony president of distribution Rory Bruer said. Soul Surfer stars AnnaSophia Robb, Helen Hunt and Dennis Quaid and features Carrie Underwood in her film debut. It was a good weekend for Schlessel and Berney, along with FilmDistrict marketing chief Jeanne Berney. The company’s micro-budgeted horror pic Insidious stayed high up on the box office chart in its second weekend, falling only 27% to an estimated $9.7 million from 2,419 locations for a cume of $27 million in its first 10 days. From Paranormal Activity producers Jason Blum and Oren Peli, Insidious cost under $1.5 million to produce. Insidious placed No. 6, beating Universal’s new R-rated comedy Your Highness, which opened to a disappointing $9.5 million from 2,769 theaters. From the outset, Universal said the film -- directed by David Gordon Green and starring Danny McBride, Natalie Portman, James Franco and Zooey Deschanel -- was for a limited audience (young males). Your Highness, costing $49.9 million to produce after foreign rebates, came in No. 7. Summit Entertainment’s Source Code fell 39% in its second weekend to place No. 8, grossing an estimated $9.1 million from 2,791 theaters for a cume of $28.6 million. Rounding out the top 10 was Lionsgate’s The Lincoln Lawyer, which continued to hold well, declining 33% to an estimated $4.6 million fro a cume of $46.5 million. Among limited offerings, the Metropolitan Opera’s The Met: Live in HD did well enough to come in No. 12 for the weekend. Saturday’s live broadcast of Rossini’s new production Le Comte Ory grossed $2.2 million from 450 locations in the U.S. Another 80,000 saw the broadcast overseas in 450 locations in 26 countries. Warners Bros.’ new educational/nature documentary Born to Be Wild 3D, from Drew Fellman, grossed an impressive $850,000 from its exclusive run in 206 Imax theaters. Many of the screens were institutional locations, such as museums. While Hop continued to rule the domestic box office, overseas was a different story, where the CGI/live-action pic hasn’t caught on, cuming $15.1 million its first 10 days. That puts the movie’s worldwide cume at $83.3 million. Rio had a far bigger footprint than Hop this weekend, but handily beat Hop in several major markets where both played, including Australia. Category:Blog posts